Next generation lawyers

The 'excellent' team at Bose & Mitra & CoÂ is highlighted by one client as being 'specialists and market leaders in Indian shipping and trade law'.Â The group counts Shipping Corporation of India, the North of England P&I Club and theÂ Great Eastern Shipping Company as its clients. The department is also instructed by Vitol SA in enforcing an arbitral award against companies trading under the banner Bhatia Group.Â Amitava MajumdarÂ has been regarded as 'the go-toÂ lawyer', and heads up the team of 'very competent lawyers' alongside Aditya Krishnamurthy. The group also benefits from the addition ofÂ Ashwini Sinha fromÂ Prashant S Pratap Law Office.

Attracting praise for its 'down to earth, professional approach',Â BRUS CHAMBERS, Advocates & Solicitors' shipping team 'is knowledgeable, experienced and up-to-date with industry knowledge'.Â The team handles contentious and non-contentious, wet and dry shipping matters. The group successfully representedÂ Admiral Finance, Commodore Finance and Ensign Finance before the Supreme Court of India in respect of theirÂ mortgage claim on theÂ M V Infinity, obtaining an order for the auction of theÂ vessel. Shrikant HathiÂ and Binita Hathi âÂ who specialises in dispute resolution â jointlyÂ head up the team which also acts forÂ Standard P&I Club,Â Aries Marine & Engineering Services andÂ BSRM Steel.Â The 'excellent' Poonam DasÂ is also recommended.

FIRMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

For shipping matters,Â ZBAÂ has been regarded as 'aÂ market leader', attracting praise for its 'sensible advice delivered efficiently. The group is particularly known for handling contentious matters and acted forÂ BW LPG Pte following the collision ofÂ BW Maple with Dawn KanchipuramÂ and resulting pollution damage and claims. Practice head Zarir BharuchaÂ also led a team, including senior associateÂ Bimal Rajasekhar, which successfully represented Murmansk Shipping Co in a high-profile limitation of liability action.

Sameer TapiaÂ heads up the shipping practice at ALMT LegalÂ which has the capabilities to handles a range of transactions and disputes. The team acted forÂ Seaspray before the Delhi High Court brought byÂ SAIL challenging damages awarded to Seaspray at arbitration.

The maritime practice at Kochhar & Co.Â handles a range of shipping matters, with clients including Milaha Maritime and Logistics Integrated LLC,Â Gulf Shipping Investment and Seaco Global. Highlighted for 'providingÂ practical solutions',Â Gautam BhatikarÂ heads up the team and attracts praise for his 'good understanding of the ground realities'.

Singhania & CoÂ has experience in a range of shipping sector matters.Â It is highlighted particularly for its ability to leverage its strength in dispute resolution to handle contentious shipping sector matters. Managing partner Pradeep JainÂ is a key name to note.

Clasis Law's shipping and international trade team has been frequently instructed in a range of maritime disputes.Â Mustafa MotiwalaÂ heads up the team which acts for a range of clients from shipping owners to transport operators and P&I clubs.

Cyril Amarchand MangaldasÂ has experience handling transactional and contentious matters for shipping sector clients. The group is acting for several lenders in a refinancing transaction for construction of a vessel.

Interview with...

Law firm partners and practice heads explain how their firms are adapting to clients' changing needs

Mr Shardul Thacker heads the shipping, oil and gas and banking practice group at Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe. Lloydâs List ranked him third in their top 10 lawyers stating: âHighly regarded for his work in the liquefied natural gas sector, particularly for interesting and highly geared finance deals in relation to infrastructure projects, energy, ports and ships.âÂ india_-_gtdt_shipping_

India is a common-law jurisdiction. In general, Indian laws borrow heavily from, and are based on, English law. However, insurance law in India has certain unique features that deviate from English insurance law. The primary legislation of insurance law in India is the Insurance Act, 1938 (the âInsurance Actâ) and the Insurance Rules, 1939 (the âInsurance Rulesâ).

The transportation industry â aviation, shipping and rail â has been predominantly owned by government entities since Indiaâs independence in 1947. Air India and Indian Airlines, both government-owned, rules the skies; the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), established in 1961 and owned by the government, owns and operates around one-third of the Indian tonnage. All railway property is government owned.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Act) provides the framework for arbitration and conciliation in India. Drafted on the basis of the UNCITRAL Model Law, it is divided into four parts. Each part governs a different aspect of the arbitration and conciliation process: a Part 1 governs commercial arbitration; b Part 2 governs the enforcement of certain foreign awards; c Part 3 governs conciliation; and d Part 4 contains supplementary provisions (regarding the power of the court to make rulings, etc.). The Act 2 was recently amended in 2016 with an aim to make it more robust by plugging the lacunae that existed in the original legislation.

The âLaw & Practiceâ sections provide easily accessible information on navigating the legal system when conducting business in the jurisdiction. Leading lawyers explain local law and practice at key transactional stages and for crucial aspects of doing business.

According to the eighth annual survey conducted by the
Association of Biotechnology-Led Enterprises (ABLE) and Bio Spectrum, the
Indian biotech industry grew threefold in just five years to report revenues of
US$ 3 billion in 2009-10, a rise of 17 per cent over the previous year. Maintaining the
momentum of the previous years, the Indian biotech industry grew 16.28 per cent
in FY2014; the total industryÂ size was US$ 5 billion at the end of the
financial year and itÂ reached US$ 7 billion in FY2015. Fast-paced
growth is likely to continue; the industry is expectedÂ to increase
in size to USD11.6 billion by 2017, driven by a range Â Â of factors
such as growing demand, intensive R & D activities and strong government
initiatives ( http://www.ibef.org/industry/biotechnology-india.aspx )

For both Ariana and Asma it was critical that their respective business plans get accepted. While Araina was trying to win the investors for her start up, Asma wanted her much awaited promotion from the board of directors. While Ariana did crack the deal,sadly Asma didnât.

The UAE has implemented a major initiative to update its laws and procedures, by adopting best international practice to encourage foreign direct investment and trade more generally with the UAE. There was a new Companies Law in 2015, a Bankruptcy Law in 2016, tax laws in 2017, and a Federal Arbitration Law and Foreign Direct Investment Law in 2018. In addition to that, Federal law No. 18 of 2017 amended the Companies Law to allow the authorities to dis-apply the requirement for 51% local ownership of UAE companies. A clear message is being sent to the world that the UAE is open for business, there is a strong modern structure in place in a form which is familiar to the big international players and which will serve their business needs.

Cheques are the most commonly used commercial paper in the UAE not only because they are used as a method of payment, but also, because they are the only commercial paper secured by the provisions of the UAEâs Penal Code (the âPenal Code â)to enhance confidence in cheques as a form of payment. As a result, cheques have been used for decades in the local market as a form of security.

C. David
DeBenedetti and Bartosz BagieĹski, DMS partners, took part in the 13 th
annual General Meeting of the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Polish
Seminar on âNew Possibilities of the Bilateral Economic Relations between Japan
and Poland under the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)â.

Arbitration practice and procedure has developed rapidly in the UAE, and the courts now take a far more pro-active role in supporting the arbitration process and enforcing arbitral awards. This movement can be seen progressively in Cassation Court judgments over the past ten years and is now recognised in Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration (the ânew Arbitration Lawâ), which repealed and replaced the old arbitration law in Articles 203 to 218 of Federal Law No. 11 of 1992. The old law did not reflect international best practice and left too much scope for the award debtor to avoid making payment

C. David DeBenedetti, attorney of the State of New
York and DMS partner gave an interview to a Spanish journal "ExpansiĂłnâ. In his
conversation with Victor Moreno, he touched on the changes on the market of
legal services that occurred as a result of development of new technologies and
said that DMS attempts to fully adjust to these new conditions. Based on the
analysis of the M&A market in Poland and internationally in recent years,
C. David DeBenedetti guaranties that despite a drop in investments in Poland,
the M&A market will continue to grow while Â DMS, as a member of
Globalaw, expects intensified work in this area.